by Lupe Velez
On Tuesday, July 14, the Board of Supervisors voted 7–4 to pass Supervisor Matt Dorsey’s Drug-Free PSH legislation. The passage was expected because five supervisors joined Dorsey as co-sponsors.
First drafted in late 2025, the policy called for the creation of drug-free permanent supportive housing from which tenants with a history of substance use disorder would be evicted if they relapse twice. The controversial policy has concerned substance use experts, permanent supportive housing providers and homeless rights advocates due to a lack in previous iterations of the policy of eviction protection and treatment opportunities, which allowed immediately evicting tenants to the street.
After a tense budget season, community leaders and advocates from San Francisco housing justice, immigrant rights and harm reduction nonprofits have felt the negative impacts of the conservative tilt of our self-proclaimed “moderate” city supervisors. Dorsey leads the pack, proposing a number of policies that have called for the criminalization of unhoused people with what he called “Drug-Free PSH”—a rebrand of what he previously called “sober housing”—for abstinence-only sober housing and transitional housing, threatening the development of permanent supportive housing in place. In his time as supervisor, Matt Dorsey has positioned himself as a recovery advocate, speaking publicly about his struggle with drug use and his subsequent recovery journey. Never having experienced homelessness, he admitted to having access to private insurance that allowed him to begin treatment.
Not surprisingly, Dorsey did not include funding for treatment and overdose prevention in his legislation—instead, he proposed that residents be forced out of their homes on a second return to use. Christopher Mika, a PSH resident, said that lease requirements for most housing, public or private, render such a provision unnecessary.
“Drug use that causes disruptive behavior is already grounds for lease enforcement and this ordinance will only drive up evictions for drug use that does not impact other residents,” Mika said. “Eviction does not lead to recovery. It severs people from services, pushes them beyond the reach of care, and increases their risk of overdose and death.”
In the lead-up to the final vote, which involved months of advocacy efforts from a number of groups, Dorsey refused to meet with concerned community voices and refused to consider eviction protections. The All Housing is Recovery Housing Coalition, which supports drug-free and recovery housing options, worked tirelessly to push for amendments in order to reduce the harm of this legislation. This alliance includes Delivering Innovations for Supportive Housing, the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, the PSH Supportive Housing Network, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Coalition on Homelessness, which publishes Street Sheet.
Supervisor Jackie Fielder proposed an amendment to ensure guaranteed offers to comparable permanent supportive housing in case of drug use-related evictions or displacement, but it failed to secure enough votes. Dorsey voted against it, as did Supervisors Alan Wong, Stephen Sherrill, Danny Sauter, Bilal Mahmood and Board President Rafael Mandelman.
The supervisors’ decision exemplified a refusal to embrace evidence-based and care-centered solutions from an unusually conservative board, said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness.
“Everyone deserves the right to safe and dignified housing while they recover,” Friedenbach said. “Supervisor Matt Dorsey’s refusal of eviction protections will increase the rate of homelessness and addiction in the city of San Francisco.”
Voting against the legislation were Fielder, Shamann Walton, Connie Chan and Chyanne Chen.
The All Housing is Recovery Housing Coalition said that the legislation’s passage came as a devastating blow to many community-based organizations that organized alongside PSH tenants and homeless communities. But the fight is not over, members said, and the coalition remains committed to championing housing as a human right and fighting for vulnerable communities in the face of bad-faith policies.
